Settling In

Our time here in Texas started pretty rocky but we seem to be settling in finally.  The kids are active in school and we think we are out of the threat of snow days.  So far the kids have had 3 snow days and 2 late start days.

Charley is anxiously awaiting her testing in math from the University of Texas which she should do any day now.  Her counselor thankfully put her in the Geometry class for now until the we get the results of the tests so she won't fall further behind.  Both her Algebra teacher and Geometry teacher here have supported our push for her to be in the Geometry class which I think has pushed the counselors and gifted coordinator in the direction we were hoping for from the start.  She certainly has some material to make up but hopefully we can take care of that this weekend.  She is enjoying the larger Young Women group here and is making lots of friends in school.  She seems to have found her nitch with the newspaper crowd which she is also taking as a elective.  She loves to write which she certainly did not get from me!  She is happy to be attending Youth Conference here in March and EFY in San Antonio this summer.

Joseph is adjusting to middle school.  He now realizes there is a LOT more homework involved that he can no longer charm his teacher's out of.  His English teacher is Mrs. Cool which he thinks is pretty awesome.  The first day of school he came home and happily informed me that middle school was awesome because he got to do p.e. EVERY DAY and got to wear p.e. clothes!  I laughed and told him that I was glad he was liking school thus far.  He is also very happy to have found himself in a good scouting ward once again.  He will be attending a merit badge camp tomorrow at the University of Texas and will earn 4 merit badges tomorrow that he hasn't started on yet.  (Watch out Papa, Joseph is knocking these out quickly!)

Sam is loving having his own room (we opted to pair up Joseph and Ben in hopes the fighting will work itself out eventually....).  Sam has proved he is the cleanest of the bunch as his room rarely has anything out of place.  Maybe the other siblings will take note!  He seems to be enjoying school, he says its not as easy as school was in Utah but its still pretty easy.  We are pushing for all the boys to be tested for TAGT (Texas version of Talented and Gifted).  He is finding friends quickly and seems to be handling the transition fairly well.

Ben is loooooooving Texas!  He loves his class, teachers, and lots of friends!  He has been invited to no less than 3 birthday parties thus far and is anxiously looking forward to his birthday and baptism coming up in just a couple weeks.  He reminds us all of this DAILY!  He also says school is pretty easy here as well but seems to be handling the move the easiest of all.  He and Sam both went in for eye exams this morning and we found his eyes are getting worse.  The doctor said its normal but that it was good we came in as he definitely needs new lenses.  He and Sam both broke their glasses recently and both decided on the same frames this morning no matter how hard I tried to get them to pick different ones.

Ronny loves his new job and comes home happy every night, which in turn makes me very happy!  We both love that when he comes home, he is home to spend time with us and not home with more work to do.  He is anxiously awaiting a calling at church and is desperately hoping it will be something with scouting again.  He will also start running again tomorrow which Harley has been patiently waiting for.

I am getting used to things here as well.  I have just finished unpacking all the boxes in the house.  I will start on the garage this weekend in hopes to fit one car in there by Monday.  I have certainly had enough work to do to keep me busy.  I am still working on trying to get a driver's license here which has become one giant headache but I am determined to succeed eventually.  With not working I am able to start cooking more regularly again.  I think we are all happy with that!  I have forgotten how much I enjoy it and am looking to try my hand at a few new things native to this area.

We seem to be in a good neighborhood.  Today kids came knocking at the door to see if our kids wanted to head outside to play.  They are enjoying the weather (76!) and love that they can ride their bikes and skateboards in February.  Now that our house is set up, we are hoping visitors will come!  So come see us!